# turtle sunbathing ontop of another **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 28, 2004, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860 "2004-03-28T03:54:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![paul\_smars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3be4f8/32.png) [@paul\_smars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paul_smars)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860/1 "2004-03-28T03:54:40Z")
I have seen this so many times and I always wonder why. Turtles are cold blooded, so when the sun is out they come out of the water and absorb the warmth. very often a smaller turtle will climb on top of a larger turtle. Now, these are not babies climbing on top of momma. So why do they climb on top, and does not the lower turtle notice the cold spot created? The other day, at my local lake I noticed this common site. This time I noticed that the two turtles where different kinds. I may have seen this before and not noticed. How are they different? The bottom turtle had a single piece shell, the turtle on top had a shell made of separate sections. I know that I got the terminoligy wrong, but hopefully you understand. BTW, lower one was abouy 14’, upper one was about 6’ front to back of shell. ---
**Author:** ![Ludicrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@Ludicrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludicrous)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860/2 "2004-03-28T09:04:15Z")
Have you noticed little sunbathing space available for both turtles? It’s possible that there is not enough room for both turtles to sunbathe and the bigger one gets its way. Also, I’m sure the top turtle doesn’t leave a cold spot since after awhile the sun heats its whole body and this gets passed on(convection??) to the other turtle. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860/3 "2004-03-28T13:34:11Z")
> [@paul'smars](#): > > BTW, lower one was abouy 14’, upper one was about 6’ front to back of shell. It must be a big lake to have 14 foot turtles. ---
**Author:** ![paul\_smars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3be4f8/32.png) [@paul\_smars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paul_smars)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860/4 "2004-03-28T13:48:53Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > It must be a big lake to have 14 foot turtles. I did use the double inch symbol, so what happened?? > [@Ludicrous](#): > > Have you noticed little sunbathing space available for both turtles? It’s possible that there is not enough room for both turtles to sunbathe and the bigger one gets its way. Also, I’m sure the top turtle doesn’t leave a cold spot since after awhile the sun heats its whole body and this gets passed on(convection??) to the other turtle. Plenty of space, this last time there where only these two. Other times there have been as much as 6-8 turtles on the ground, with any # of turtles on top. This gets me thinking, I wonder of a second (smaller) turtle always takes any available on top position prior to choosing a new ground level space. Then a new turtle seeing no larger turtles to climb on to accepts a ground lever position. The next turtle seeing an empty turtle shell climbs abord… Convection yes, but when my wife lays her leggs across my stomach at the beach, I feel cooler there. ---
**Author:** ![netscape\_6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8c91f0/32.png) [@netscape\_6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/netscape_6)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860/5 "2004-03-28T14:19:46Z")
My guess is the smaller one thought the larger one was a rock. ---
**Author:** ![Starguard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Starguard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starguard)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860/6 "2004-03-28T14:51:10Z")
I never knew turtles were cold blooded. I saw a really big turtle once that breathed fire and could fly. :eek: It would pull its arms into its shell and make flames come out of the holes, then would start spinning around in circles while flying through the air… It even had a name, I think it was called a **GAMARA** or something like that 😃 I think its only native to Japan…or somewhere over there 😛😉 ---
**Author:** ![paul\_smars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3be4f8/32.png) [@paul\_smars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paul_smars)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860/7 "2004-03-28T18:10:41Z")
> [@Starguard](#): > > I never knew turtles were cold blooded. I saw a really big turtle once that breathed fire and could fly. :eek: It would pull its arms into its shell and make flames come out of the holes, then would start spinning around in circles while flying through the air… It even had a name, I think it was called a **GAMARA** or something like that 😃 > > I think its only native to Japan…or somewhere over there 😛😉 Thanks for the memory. I have not thought about that “fire turtle” in decades. All that I remember is the flames and spinning thru the air. What else did he do? If u tell me, I might remember. ---
**Author:** ![netscape\_6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8c91f0/32.png) [@netscape\_6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/netscape_6)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860/8 "2004-03-28T20:58:14Z")
> [@Starguard](#): > > **GAMARA** In the name of fighting ignorance. They are of the family koopa and the species your refering to is a parakoopa. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860/9 "2004-03-28T21:10:00Z")
I honestly thought I’d have to come in here with the old ‘Well, when two turtles love each other…’ schtick. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860/10 "2004-03-28T21:23:16Z")
The top turtle is supporting the weight of a whole world. The turtle under the top turtle is supporting that turtle. And its just turtles all the way down from there. ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860/11 "2004-03-29T00:03:48Z")
> [@](#): > > In the name of fighting ignorance. They are of the family koopa and the species your refering to is a parakoopa. A helpful way to identify whether a turtle is a koopa is to check for the presence of a mustachioed Italian guy in overalls in the vicinity. ---
**Author:** ![dakravel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@dakravel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dakravel)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860/12 "2004-03-29T00:30:25Z")
> [@](#): > > honestly thought I’d have to come in here with the old ‘Well, when two turtles love each other…’ schtick. “Oh no Jimmy, you can go swimming now. But don’t worry about mama and daddy, we were just, umm…, sunbathing together. Nude. On top of one another.” ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860/13 "2004-03-29T00:42:48Z")
I used to have three pet turtles, and they developed a pattern for how they would climb on top of eachother. Turtle A was the biggest one, more than twice the same as the other two. Turtle B was a bit less than half the size of Turtle A and Turtle C was a bit smaller than Turtle B. Turtle A never stood on top of B or C. Ever. Never even leaned against them. Turtle B was always second in the pyramid, sometimes he was at the bottom when Turtle A was elsewhere. He never climbed on top of C, though he did lean against him. C usually leaned against B while standing on top of A - back legs on A’s shell, front legs on B’s shell. On rare occasions, C climbed all the way up and formed a perfect turtle pyramid, lying on top of both B and A. Pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![paul\_smars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3be4f8/32.png) [@paul\_smars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paul_smars)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860/14 "2004-03-29T03:13:47Z")
> [@cactus waltz](#): > > I used to have three pet turtles, and they developed a pattern for how they would climb on top of eachother. Turtle A was the biggest one, more than twice the same as the other two. Turtle B was a bit less than half the size of Turtle A and Turtle C was a bit smaller than Turtle B. > Turtle A never stood on top of B or C. Ever. Never even leaned against them. > > Turtle B was always second in the pyramid, sometimes he was at the bottom when Turtle A was elsewhere. He never climbed on top of C, though he did lean against him. > > C usually leaned against B while standing on top of A - back legs on A’s shell, front legs on B’s shell. On rare occasions, C climbed all the way up and formed a perfect turtle pyramid, lying on top of both B and A. Pretty cool. There has to be something to this smaller turtles on top thing! ---
**Author:** ![Skillet38](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Skillet38](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skillet38)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860/15 "2004-03-29T03:19:32Z")
Heres my WAG. The bigger ie older turtle is on the bottom. The smaller ie younger turtles are on top. Turtles defense mechanism is to jump their arses back in the water. The younger turtles feel safer on top of an older/bigger as he has more experience with threat survival. They don’t have to be as watchful either, so they can dream their little turtle dreams and be at ease, because if the one on the bottom takes a dive, they’re all going in. watcha think ? ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860/16 "2004-03-29T03:57:56Z")
> [@paul'smars](#): > > … So why do they climb on top, and does not the lower turtle notice the cold spot created? … IANA\_. it’s not much fun sunbathing alone, and because it’s shell not skin i’ll guess that they don’t feel the cold spot as much, neither would the little weight matter to the bigger ones below. ---
**Author:** ![netscape\_6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8c91f0/32.png) [@netscape\_6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/netscape_6)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860/17 "2004-03-29T14:01:17Z")
> [@emekthian](#): > > A helpful way to identify whether a turtle is a koopa is to check for the presence of a mustachioed Italian guy in overalls in the vicinity. They also walk on 2 legs and have perfectly frictionless shells. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860/18 "2004-03-29T14:21:43Z")
The turtle on the bottom is a lazy, shiftless, working class turtle who will never amount to anything. The turtle on top, blocking the sun for the lower turtle, is a virtous, trustworthy, executive turtle. He is carrying out the essential duty of supervising the other turtle. Why this helps, I don’t know, **but people who question the wisdom of executive turtles are all Commie Liberal tax-and spend scum!!** psst–why do we have executive turtles again? The above is satire, for the clueless. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860/19 "2004-03-29T16:41:00Z")
They instintively climb higher; doing so consistently ensures they’ll always get the most sun available. There’s no such thing as a turtle with a solid, one=piece carapace. What you probably saw was a Painted turtle ([_Chrysemys picta_](http://www.pcs.k12.va.us/vtrail/pb-2.jpg)), whose scutes are pretty well flush and can seem like a single smooth piece from a distance; and a Red-Eared Slider ([_Trachemys scripta_](http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/wildlife/Images/reps_herps/redear.jpg)), whose scutes can appear more distinct. Depending on where you were, of course; those are the two most common terrapins in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860/20 "2004-03-29T16:49:30Z")
[Here I thought this was about Yertle the Turtle.](http://www.funtocollect.com/drseusyertur.html) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turtle-sunbathing-ontop-of-another/236860.md?page=2)